(306) Brother Knight Dr. Mel Simon (1935-2025) Achieved the American Dream….. and Generously Gave Back to the Community

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Dr. Mel Simon

      Family and friends celebrated the life of brother knight (4^th Degree) Dr. Mel Simon before saying good-bye to him as he joined his dear son, Paul in the beautiful mausoleum at the Ohio Valley Memory Gardens.

      Mel Simon grew up in the Philippine Islands during the Second World War and the Japanese occupation.  Born in 1935, little Mel was there when General Douglas MacArthur had to leave, but promised “I shall return”.  Little Mel was there when MacArthur did indeed return.  We study history; Mel lived it.

      He graduated from the University of Santo Tomas Medical School in the Philippines in 1959.  A classmate of his was Dr. Anthony Sola, the father of Tony, Mel’s godson, who is here with us.  Dr. Simon went through six years as a resident doctor in the Cook County Hospital in Chicago where he obtained his specialization in surgery and urology.  Resident doctors work very hard for little pay and long hours during their residency and deserve to be amply rewarded later.

      In 1966 Dr. Charles Holzer invited Mel to work as a doctor in the hospital he founded here in Gallia County.  Soon Mel excelled in his own practice and became a prominent doctor in our community.  He became prosperous and achieved the American dream.  Don’t tell me there’s no opportunity in our country.  Mel proved that one who is intelligent and resourceful, studies hard, and works hard can indeed achieve the American dream.  

       Immigrants have made this country great over the years.  They are willing to accept jobs nobody wants, work hard, take risks, and start new businesses that provide jobs for others.  Europe and Asia have given America their best human resources.  Accepting low wages provided big profits for corporations that invested in expansion and the economic takeoff of the United States in the 19^th Century.  Today legal immigrants from Latin America are doing very well.  The timid and the lazy don’t immigrate.

      Dr. Mel not only achieved the American dream; he gave back to the community on his own, through the Rotary Club and through the Knights of Columbus.  Two of our brother knights, Bruce Davison and Mike Dressel served as honor guards.  

      In collaboration with the Rotary Club, Dr. Simon organized some 35 medical missions to the Philippine Islands as “Operation We Care”.  He recruited many doctors and nurses to work with him.  Our own Jaga Sebastian, Pam Dovyak, and others from our parish were among them.  His wife Lydia was part of every one of these missions.  Upon his return Dr. Mel would share experiences with different community groups, including our own Knights of Columbus, of which he was a 4^th Degree member.

Paul Sebastian and Betty Horan are on the left and Dr. Mel Simon is on the right with Alina Colwell, the one thousandth patient served at the French 500 Free Clinic which coincided with its third anniversary.

      While working as a Catholic lay missionary in Peru for 14 years.  I noticed that the Maryknoll Fathers often had parish clinics with volunteer nuns to serve the medical needs of the poor.  Wondering whether that idea would work here, I shared the concept with Dr. Mel.  He took the ball and ran with it.  Thus we had the French 500 Free Clinic with volunteer doctors and nurses going for about four years until Obama Care ran us out of business.  Lydia was there for every session and so was Mel’s “baby sister”, Remy Simon.

Four nurse volunteers of the French 500 Free Clinic from left to right: Evangeline Gugacus, Debbie Beegle, Beverly Voss, and Lydia Simon, his wife of 66 years who was at his side during every project.

      Dr. Mel was instrumental in the restoration of the Ariel Opera House under the leadership of Lora Snow.  Paul, his son, served on the Board of Directors until his tragic death.  The Ohio Valley Symphony Orchestra had five performances every year and if they were in town, Mel and Lydia were sure to be there.  The Symphony Orchestra includes internationally known soloists and professional musicians from three states.  His daughter-in-law was a candidate for “Maestro For a Moment”.  Each dollar donated was one vote.  Mel stuffed the ballot box and Dr. Agnes Simon won in a landslide.

      Dr. Mel served on the Board of Trustees of the University of Rio Grande.   He was also a man of faith.  Mel and Lydia were right there, first row left side at the 10 o’clock Mass every Sunday dressed in their Sunday best.  Sometimes he served as lector.  He was generous with our parish, helping with improvements such as major renovations and a new Parish Hall.

      Mel Simon loved his adopted country and was a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force Medical Corps Reserves.  He was ready to serve on active duty if called.  Lydia was a major part of Mel’s success through 66 years of marriage.  She was his top assistant and financial secretary.  She kept the home going as well.  They worked together beautifully as a team.

      He had a zest for life.  As a young doctor, Mel Simon, took up motorcycling, downhill skiing, and boating.  He even had a passion for flying as an instrument-rated pilot of his own airplane.  However, Dr. Mel suffered a lot in his twilight years, but his daughter Dr. Maria Simon provided for the best care.  The care givers included Filipinos who gave Mel the opportunity to speak the language he learned as a child.  I hope that Mel offered his crosses, i.e., suffering to the Lord as a dynamic prayer for the Church, for his adopted country and for his loved ones.  That is a most effective prayer and a path to sanctity.

      Mel, left a legacy.  In 2010 the State of Ohio recognized his contributions by naming him to the Ohio Senior Citizens Hall of Fame.  Thank you for giving back so much to the community.  May we follow his example by serving the Church and the people of our community.  Good-bye to our friend and brother knight until we meet again in eternity.  Let’s make sure that we all make it to Heaven for that great reunion by being faithful to God and His people.  That’s what life is all about.

      At the internment at the Ohio Valley Memory Gardens, several people paid tribute to a life well lived.  They included Paul Sebastian representing the Knights of Columbus, Lora Snow Director of the Ariel Opera House, and Judge Margaret Evans representing the Rotary Club for which he served as a District Governor for a time.  Three of his grandsons, Joshua, Zachary, and Jacob gave beautiful tributes.  Our pastor, Fr. Thomas Hamm gave the final blessing.     

      Since his Funeral Mass was in Chicago, where his American adventure began, but is interred in Gallipolis, his home on the shore of the Ohio River for 59 years, the intention of the Knights of Columbus Fifth Sunday Mass on March 30 was for the repose of his soul.  Fr. Thomas Hamm, a knight himself, celebrated the Mass and Mel's godson Tony Sola was an altar server.  Much of Dr. Simon’s extended family sat in the first two rows on the left side and his parish family attended as well.  Brother knights served as honor guards, altar servers, lector, Eucharistic Minister, and ushers.  The Jose Reyes Family brought up the gifts at the Offertory.    

(305) Knights of Columbus Sponsor St. Louis Parish Appreciation Dinner and Promote Parish Community

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The members of the parish enjoy each other and the delicious top quality food prepared by our master chef, Alex Valadez.  At the same time, the Knights of Columbus extend its appreciation to all of those who have supported our fund raisers, thus making this exquisite meal available without charge to our honored guests, all the members of our parish family.  Our thanks to Moriah Scarberry for taking the photos.

 Every year our Knights of Columbus Council 3335 sponsors a dinner or brunch honoring members of our parish who have stood out and faithfully contributed more than the expected……Knight of the Year, Lady of the Year, Youth of the Year, Family of the Year, etc.  But it seemed as though essentially the same group of people received a formal recognition more than once. 

    But what about everyone else who have done whatever they could despite being loaded down with health problems, busy work schedules, family obligations, children, home upkeep, serving the community, etc.?  They give financial support to the parish, help those in need on an individual basis, faithfully attend Mass every Sunday, pray for the renewal of the Church and our parish, and making the annual pilgrimage to Washington for the March For Life, not to mention the sick who offer their crosses daily as a dynamic prayer for us.   And last but not least we cannot forget Trudi and our administrative assistant, Mary Ann.  We couldn’t do without them. 

Thus we decided to do something different.  Why not recognize everybody with a classy top quality appreciation dinner?  And that’s what we did.

       These parish dinners and other activities are indispensable for building a solid community of faithful believers united to serve the Lord, His Church, and His people…..helping each other on the journey to eternity.  The more people who attend and participate, the stronger our parish community becomes.  Each person is so important and makes a difference, a big difference.  A close knit and strong parish community where people care about each other even helps the new evangelization……helping to keep cradle Catholics from drifting away and attracting new members.

       How did the knights put this all together?  The knights passed out personal invitations to everyone who attended Mass one Sunday.  The people were asked to acknowledge their RSVP invitation by the next Sunday as to the number of people attending from their families with their choices of either chicken or roast beef. 

Alejandra Garrett, Mike Edelmann, Joy and Kieth Elliott serve the people in the chow line.

Knowing the number of guests, our master chef, Alex Valadez was able to plan and buy the food.  After graduating from Gallia Academy, he went to a 12-month Chefs School and currently helps his father run the El Toril Mexican Restaurant, one of the best in southeastern Ohio. 

The knights and several women too set up the parish hall for dinner and the honored guests came in as the master chef prepared the meal.  Mary Ann and Matt Bokovitz, our former grand knight, were key players in organizing the event as were his brother knights.

Mike Dressel welcomes everyone to the St. Louis Parish Appreciation Dinner at the parish hall.  Notice the tapestry of the Last Supper in the background.

      Our grand knight (president), Mike Dressel opened the delightful evening with a warm welcome and an explanation of this endeavor by the knights.  He made it a point to recognize the Catholic Women’s Club for their work.  After our pastor, Fr. Thomas Hamm said the blessing, we were off amidst the clanging of knives and forks.  It was a great meal, a choice of chicken or roast beef with the sauce and the trimmings.  Jackie Ours topped it off with a delicious dessert. 

       The guests enjoyed it immensely……good food, great fellowship, good conversation, and laughs too.  It was a relaxing parish family sit-down dinner, no fast food on the run.  All the positive feedback from nearly a hundred guests was a testament to this.  As Christ broke bread with His apostles at the Paschal meal and first Mass on Holy Thursday so did we, but in a down to earth way at our parish dinner.  We worship together; we pray together; we work together, we celebrate together, we mourn together and we relax together while caring about each other…..each doing his/her part.  

 That’s what a Christian community is all about!  And that’s what a parish family should be!  Let’s all make sure we always maintain that and more by the active participation of each one of us as an example to all of the parishes in the diocese.       

       Everybody had a good time…….so much so that people were already asking about having another appreciation dinner next year.  And why not?  May this appreciation dinner become a tradition, an annual event at St. Louis Church.  Next year may our Parish Appreciation Dinner be bigger and better than ever with every single member of the parish attending.  DON’T MISS IT!  Let’s double the number of those attending to 200.  Talk it up when the time comes!

       And men of the parish, we need you; join us as brother knights!  Even though you may not like meetings, we have great fellowship with a dinner together before each one and your ideas are so important.  Plus, there are many opportunities to serve the parish and the surrounding community.  That will enrich your life!  

Build upon the pillars of the order within yourself……charity, fraternity, unity, and patriotism.  Contact our grand knight, Mike Dressel at 740-853-1842 or e-mail him at hammer56.mike@aol.com.  More about the knights at their website www.kofc.org.

Furthermore, the Knights of Columbus life insurance program to help secure your family financially is really among the very best out there.  Any surplus funds (profits) don’t go to the stockholders, but back to you in rebates and Knights of Columbus charities.

(304) The 2024 Annual Report and Review of the Knights of Columbus Council 3335 Gallipolis, Ohio

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List of Accomplishments

--Our Council continues to promote the Domestic Church, which each father, as lead-er of his family, has the responsibility to maintain in his home.  This kiosk in the Parish Hall has a selection of resources that parents can use to nurture their domes-tic church at home.  More about the knights at their website www.kofc.org. 

.--Organized a Knights of Columbus Sunday Mass with a procession in regalia plus Rosary each Fifth Sunday of the month (four times a year).  Our Chaplain says the Mass and other knights fill the functions of altar servers, lector, Eucharistic Minister, ushers, etc.  A knight and his family usually bring up the gifts at the Offertory.   

 --A knight leads the Rosary before each Mass on the First Saturday and First Sunday of every month.

 --Helped to finance the restoration of the stained-glass windows in the church.

 --Cleared snow from the parish walkways and parking lot.

--Sponsored and operated the Guiding Hand Free Throw Contest for developmental challenged children and adults.  This is a sort of mini special Olympics. 

 --Placed the outdoor Stations of the Cross in a more weather protected area.

--Donated $250 to the Lenten Fish Fry, another annual fund raiser for the parish.

 --Support the underwriting and promotion of the Steubenville Diocesan Men’s Day of Renewal.to help the men in their spiritual development (usually the third Saturday of Lent).

--Two of our knights, one a horticulturist and another a landscaper, plant and maintain a flower garden between the church and the rectory with beautiful Spring, Summer, and Fall flowers to glorify God.  They also maintain a flower garden in the church cemetery to honor our deceased loved ones.

--Sponsored the annual First Communicants Breakfast Reception.

--We sponsor and organize an annual brunch to honor mothers on Mothers Day.  We continue to collaborate with the national Knights of Columbus in promoting the Domestic Church with a kiosk of pamphlets on the subject.

--Gave Rosaries to the High School Graduates at the Mass in their honor.

--Awarded a college scholarship for a deserving High School graduate.

--Did the Spring & Fall clean-up of the parish Cemetery and maintained its landscaping. 

--Donated $250 to the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Burn Unit in Columbus.

--Donated $1000 to Grace United Methodist Church Food Pantry. 

--Built a wheelchair ramp for a family in need.

--Cleaned the church grounds in preparation for the annual Spaghetti Dinner fund raiser.

--Donated $200 towards the annual parish Spaghetti Dinner for fund raising.

--Purchased missalette book markers for the church.

--Tore down a storage building behind the Church Hall.

--Made a donation to the Parish School of Religion (PSR) Program.

--Sponsored and organized the local Knights of Columbus "Coats For Kids" Winter Coat Drive.

--Sponsored and set up an Appreciation Dinner prepared by a master chef to foster parish community.

 --Set up and managed our annual Christmas Giving Tree in church for parishioners to provide presents for poor children.

 --Published a monthly newsletter as an insert in the church bulletin.  Its goal is to inform the parish of Knights of Columbus activities and to enhance the spiritual development of its members and the parishioners in general.

Comments

    The list of accomplishments is rather impressive.  At the end of the year our council numbered 37 knights and only about half that number are active…..i.e., attend an occasional meeting and participated in a few of the activities above.  Imagine what we can do if we would have greater participation and more new members!  Thus we ask all o our knights to recruit their friends who are faithful Catholics, at least attending Sunday Mass regularly.  Those who might be interested in joining the Knights of Columbus may contact the Grand Knight Michael Dressel at 740-853-1842 or e-mail him at hammer56.mike@aol.com.   

       Many of the knights are very busy with job and family.  However, every knight should at least be able to attend a meeting occasionally and participate in at least one major activity a year.  The dinner meetings provide good food and great fellowship.  

        The KofC insurance is among the very best in the country to protect families.  Any profits do not go to stockholders, but rather for charity and rebates to its policy holders.  

    The input of every knight is most important for the Star Council recognition.  That is our goal!

       In 2024 two of our knights were awarded the prestigious 4^th degree, namely Mike Dressel and Mike Merry.  More knights are invited to apply for the 4th Degree.  Again, please contact the Grand Knight.